The congregation dedicated the East End Presbyterian Church on December 5, 1897.
The Hopkins map for 1903 and 1915 show about half of the church building to be in Wilkinsburg and half in Pittsburgh.
The recent Allegheny County assessment map shows about a third of the church building to be in Wilkinsburg.
The Union Gospel Church moved to the former Waverly Presbyterian Church at Waverly St. and Peebles St. in August of 1930.
The Nugget in 1937 listed Rev. F. J. Briggs as the pastor.
The 1954 newspaper article “Singspiration Marks Anniversary At Union Gospel” describes,
Easter Sunday evening, Union Gospel Church, Waverly and Peebles street, is sponsoring another of its Singspirations. The occasion marks the first anniversary for these services, one having been held each season.
Evangelistic in nature, congregational singing of the Bill Graham campaign songs with piano and organ accompaniment, form the musical background for the gospel message by the pastor. The public is invited.
The Rev. F. J. Briggs will deliver the message and John Wood will direct the singing. Betty Jane Dotter is to be at the piano with Mary Anne Guy at the organ. The service beings at 7:45.
The church aligned with the Evangelical Free Church of America to become the Union Gospel Evangelical Free Church in the spring of 1984. The Evangelical Free Church of America formed from the merger of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association and Swedish Evangelical Free Church in 1950. “The word Free in the Evangelical Free Church’s name refers to its congregational polity, meaning each member church is autonomous, and to its history, meaning the free churches were free from state control. . . . The Evangelical Free Church is a member of the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches.”
Wilkinsburg Public Library Digital Archives
The Wilkinsburg Church of the Nazarene bought building in 1994.
The Refuge Church of God in Christ in 2012 purchased the building from the Church of the Nazarene. Supt. O. T. Tillman is the founder of the Refuge Church of God in Christ.
The Nugget: Wilkinsburg Golden Jubilee 1887–1937, p. 92.
Steven E. Hansen, Pastor, “History of Union Gospel Evangelical Free Church” in Wilkinsburg Centennial Publication Committee, Historic Wilkinsburg 1887–1987, One Hundred Years of Pride, 1988, p. 111.
“Evangelical Free Church of America,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Free_Church_of_America
Wilkinsburg Public Library Digital Archives:
“Singspiration Marks Anniversary At Union Gospel,” April 1954.